Ultrabooks are a new type of computer now available on market that are kinda like Netbooks, but are ultra-portable, ultra-powerful and ultra-expensive (see what we did there).

But if you have the cash to put down on one of these machines they are defiantly the portable laptop you should buy for this years term. 

The first on our list is also the cheapest, available at around $650 the Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook is just 315mm thin and only 1.52kgs light, packing an Intel i5 1.70GHz processor, 6GBs of RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit this laptop is great to carry around with you.

The Series 5 also has a Intel® HD Graphics 4000 card, 300nit Anti-Reflective HD LED Display with a 1366 x 768 13.3 inch LED back-lit display and a 500GB hard drive.

The Samsung Ultrabook also packs 2 USB 2.0 and a USB 3.0 port, alongside a 3-in-1 memory card reader, Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6235, 2×2 802.11 abg/n Wi-Fi capabilities and a 1.3MP HD webcam.

If the Samsung isn’t your thing, Acer have also released their own Aspire Ultrabook also available from £650, the S3-391 comes with the same Intel i5 1.70GHz processor and Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, but only has 4GBs of RAM installed.

The Aspire Ultrabook also comes with a Intel® HD 4000 graphics card, with a Acer CineCrystal™ LED-backlit display that packs a 1366 x 768 resolution in13.3 inches.

It also comes with a 500GB hard drive alongside a second 20GB SSD hard-drive for fast resumes. The Aspire S3 also comes with Acer InviLink™ Nplify™ 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi capabilities, 2 USB 3.0/ HDMI ports, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 1.3MP HD webcam.

The HP Envy 6 is next in line, with (as you can guess) an Intel i5 1.7GHz processor, 4GBs of RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, but with the price tag of around £700.

However the Envy 6 also comes with a 500GB hard drive built-in with another 32GB Solid State Drive, 1 USB 2.0 port, 2 USB 3.0 ports and Intel’s 802.11 b/g/n with WiDi capabilities.

Also packed in is a HDMI port 2.0MP webcam and Beats Audio Technology, which is where the higher price comes in as this Ultrabook also comes packed with 2 speakers and HP Triple Bass Reflex Subwoofer, making it great for the music enthusiast.

ASUS have also stepped in with their UX21E-KX004V 11.6″ Ultrabook, which is the first Ultrabook on the list to come with a 128GB SSD only, so there’s no hard drive alongside it. Which is not a bad thing as this will make the machine run faster than others above it on the list.

Alongside ASUS have also put Intel’s i5 processor, 4GBs of DDR3 RAM Backlit LED TFT HD screen with 1366X768 resolution packed in an 11.6 inch screen.

The UX21E also comes with 1 x USB 2.0 port, 1 x USB 3.0 port, an SD card reader, 1 Mini VGA and 1 Mini HDMI port. There is also a VGA webcam on the front.

All with a £750 price tag

We have already covered tablets on the back to school guide, now it’s time to show you some Netbooks.

Netbooks are great laptops for people on a budget with a need for portability, I have been using my HP DM1 netbook for about a year now and I’ve gotta say it makes like so much easier knowing you can chill on a bus playing a game or typing out a document without any weight on your shoulders (literally).

Netbooks are not for everyone however, so keep that in mind when looking through the list, and if you don’t like the sound of them make sure to keep tuned for our Ultrabook and Laptop lists.

As there’s not that many Netbooks around anymore we were lacking on a choice to show you, but below are some of our favorites that we could find brand new.

The first is our budget netbook, ASUS X101CH, which includes and Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive, alongside which is a 10.1 inch screen, SDHC memory card reader and 2 USB 2.0 ports.

There is also Integrated 802.11b/g/built-in, as well as a VGA and HDMI port, the screen also packs a 1024 x 600 WSVGA resolution.

The ASUS will set you back around £199 and comes with Windows 7 Starter installed.

The ACER Aspire One is the next on the list and packs similar specs to the ASUS but has a £229 price tag.

To be honest the only deference between this and the ASUS actually is the price tag and that it includes an extra USB port and ACER branding, but if you want some of those ACER built chips and software included you will have to pay the extra bit of cash.

Next up is HP’s answer to the netbook with the 210, this lightweight netbook includes a 10.1 inch screen like the rest, but packs a punchier 1.9GHz processor, alongside that it also comes packed with Intel’s Graphics Media Accelerator 3650 and Beats Audio technology.

The Beats Audio really helps to set the HP’s same old 320GB hard drive and 1GB RAM apart and is probably the best reason to pick one up for yourself.

If you would like to pick one up you might be surprised at its £229 price-tag, all in great specs, this one is most defiantly the steal.

The summer vacation is coming to a close and now it’s time to start thinking about going back to school or university, but to start you need to think about the tech you are going to bring with you, which can quite often be a heavy ordeal.

That’s why we have started this new segment for all you September starters looking for the best tech to take notes on and play games.

Today were going to talk about tablets, which ones the best, the cheapest or just average, check it all out below and let us know which one you are thinking about buying in the comments below.

The first on our list is the BlackBerry PlayBook, which you may think of being quite pricey, but recently the RIM device has seen a hefty price reduction and you can now pick up the device for a minuscule £129, of course if you want the 32GB model you will have to set back a little extra, as the will set you back a reasonable £149.

The Playbook is just 10mm thin and only weighs 425 grams so is perfect for carrying in your bag, the device also packs a 7 inch LCD display and a multi-touch capacitive screen.

There is also an ARM Cortex A9 dual-core 1GHz processor built-in, alongside which this tab also packs 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GBs of storage.

BlackBerry have even created their own OS especially for the tablet which lets it run custom-built applications made for the device, and it even has a wide selection of ports including Micro USB and HDMI.

The PlayBook also has integrated 802.11 b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth technology, allowing you to easily check your e-mails or submit your coursework after BBM Messenger breaks.

Next up is the Sony P Series Tablet, which recently seen a price drop much like the PlayBook costing a cool £199 for the 4GB 3G model.

This tablet is defiantly the one for you if you want to perform tasks at great speed all in a nice-looking design, the Sony P has a compact clamshell design which allows it to fold up much like a DS would and easily fit in your pocket or backpack.

The tablet also features Sony’s TruBlack LED HD display, which allows for a controlled refraction of light between the LCD and the screen delivering better colors and image clarity.

The P also features built-in DLNA media apps which let you stream music and films from/to a variety of devices, alongside that the tablet also features 4GBs of in-built storage which can be expanded with a micro SD card.

As I mentioned before the P also features 3G connectivity which sets it apart from Wi-Fi tablets giving it web connectivity whilst on the move, but if you prefer you can still use the in-built Wi-Fi technology.

But probably the best part about this tablet is that it is the first PlayStation Certified tablet device, which allows you to play well know PlayStation titles on the device and can even plug-in your PS3 SIXAXIS controller to further enjoy the gameplay.

Inside the tablet there is a NVIDA Tegra 2 chipset, 1GB of RAM and the Android 3.2 operating system.

However if you prefer a much newer and Google made device, the ASUS made Nexus 7 is for you.

Built with the new Jelly Bean operating system in mind, this £199 tablet features a NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30l Quad-Core processor, 1GB of RAM and of course, Android 4.1 jelly Bean.

Alongside that the Nexus 7 also packs a 7 inch screen with 1280 x 800 resolution, which of course is a multi-touch display with Gorilla Glass.

The Google tablet also includes 16GBs of memory in-built, with Wi-Fi, GPS and NFC connectivity and a 1.2MP camera.

Next we have the first Ice Cream Sandwich device on the list, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, 7.0 and 10.1 tablets, the 7.0 will set you back around £199 and includes, as you can guess, a 7 inch screen and Android’s 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

Alongside that the device also includes a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi and a 3MP rear camera with another VGA pixel camera on the front.

If that’s not good enough for you, you could pick up it’s bigger brother, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, which can be picked up for around £299.

The 10.1 includes a 1GHz dual-core processor and other specs the same as the 7.0, but of course brings that 10.1 display into action.

Last but not least is the new iPad, which comes with the all new A5 chip, 2048×1536 pixel resolution display and Apple’s iOS 5 operating system.

On the back is a 5-megapixel camera capable of recording full 1080p video, which has been partnered with a second VGA camera on the front.

The new iPad or iPad 3 also includes Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi connectivity and can be upgraded to include 3G.

The Wi-Fi model’s come in three sizes and three prices, the 16GB device is the cheapest at £399, then it goes to the 32GB model at £479 and finally the 64GB model at £559, of course if you want the 3G model you will have to add-on an extra £100 to whichever size you choose.

The flower of a geranium opening over a period of about two hours. Consecutive frames are 7 minutes apart. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Whatever your level of experience as a photographer, there’s good chance that you’re already familiar with time-lapse photography. The basic principle behind time-lapse is to take photographs over a number of minutes, hours, weeks, months or even years, and shrink them into a video of just a few seconds / minutes. This can bring often-imperceptible processes to life – you can watch a seed germinate, grow, and blossom into a flower in a matter of seconds, for instance.

Before you attempt your own time-lapse project, you need to make sure your gear’s up to the job. You’ll definitely need a tripod and an intervalometer (many modern DSLRs have an intervalometer built in) – this little piece of tech will take all the hard work out of the process by ensuring uniformity in the spacing between each shot. Alternatively, you can hook your camera up to a laptop and run software (such as Nikon Camera Control Pro) that will do this for you. Always remember, choosing shorter intervals will help to ensure the final result is as fluid as possible.

If you’re not sure whether to shoot in RAW or JPG format, remember that you’ll only need RAW if you plan to do significant post-processing of your images. For beginners, JPGs will usually be fine, and they’ll take up less space and save more quickly.

Once you’ve set up your camera facing the view you want to capture, place it on manual mode and select your chosen aperture, exposure time and white balance. By locking these settings, you ensure the final edit will look nice and smooth. To avoid what is known as ‘flicker’ (the drag from when the shutter moves) use an aperture under f/8 and aim for under 1/50th of a second shutter speed. Then use your camera’s intervalometer, or an equivalent piece of software, to manage the sequence of shots you want to take.

You can save yourself hours in the editing process by simply thinking ahead. Make sure you’re happy with the way the scene is framed. Work out what time of day will provide the kind of light you want. Practice with different settings and different lenses to see the effects.

There are a number of affordable software packages available (such as Quicktime Pro) which will allow you to condense your photos into a short video sequence. Once that’s done, you can think about adding a soundtrack, and creating something really impressive.

Once you get the hang of time-lapse photography, you can even think about combining it with other techniques like tilt-shift, as demonstrated in this ‘Miniature Manchester’:

This article was provided by Vivid Photo Visual

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